Personal tools

Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment (NAMERA)

All information pertaining to The Nature Conservancy's Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment.
The Nature Conservancy's goals in conducting this assessment were to produce a baseline of scientific information on the distribution and status of key habitats and species, and a map and report of priority conservation areas for the region's marine biodiversity. - See more at: https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationByGeography/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/edc/reportsdata/marine/namera/Pages/default.aspx#sthash.yktBouXX.dpuf

The Nature Conservancy's Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment data. Includes: Species richness of large pelagic fish - The richness of target species values were calculated to outline the diversity of the species in each ten minute square. The essential fish habitat (EFH) metrics were developed to understand how much of the region is considered EFH and to identify points were EFH for the target species overlapped. The persistence score identifies which target species were observed in the same ten minute square over time. The days fished metrics were calculated to understand the distribution of gillnet, longline, and bottom longline fishing trips.

The Nature Conservancy's Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregion Assessment data. Includes: Seasonal fish trends and abundance; The Trend in Abundance Metric was developed to address the following question concerning the distribution of specific fish species relative to places in the North Atlantic Marine Ecoregion:
Where in the ecoregion has the abundance been increasing or decreasing? (trends).
And weighted persistence; The Weighted Persistence metric was developed to address the following questions concerning the distribution of specific fish species relative to places in the North Atlantic Marine Ecoregion:
Where in the ecoregion has the species been consistently found over time? (persistence)
Where in the ecoregion is the species consistently found in high abundances? (persistence weighted by abundance).

The Nature Conservancy's Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment data. Includes: Seasonal data on Zooplankton - biomass data were obtained from the COPEPOD database (NOAA) for 1977-2007, Chlorophyll - measured to determine phytoplankton concentration, Sea Surface Temperature - data were extracted from three dimensional climatologies representing 28 years from 1980 - 2007, averaged, and interpolated with ordinary kriging to produce a smooth surface, and Stratification - data helps describe the physical environment of the water column near the surface. These data help to understand the seasonal patterns of mixing and stratification that help to determine areas of high productivity and benthic-pelagic coupling.

The Nature Conservancy's Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment data. Includes:
Point nesting data, Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) importance and nesting areas and sightings per unit effort (SPUE) for the three species of turtles - Green sea turtle, Leatherback turtle, and Loggerhead turtle.
And Marine Mammal data: assessed, combined and converted from seasonal species sightings into 10-minute squares. Individual grids were then multiplied by 1000 and divided by seasonal effort grids previously generated by the U.S. Navy. The resulting sightings per unit effort (SPUE) grids were used to identify important areas within the Ecoregion for each species.